The reason we decided to write this book is because The Trickster has completely tricked my people . . .

"The reason we decided to write this book is because The Trickster has completely tricked my people. The Trickster, or Iktomi, has come into our land, and completely colonized the Lakotah Nation. Many of my own people are only play-acting at being Indians. Only a few even realize that they are colonized. The Heyoka, the one who lives backwards, has come into our land to try to get the people out of this death condition, but it's not working - the people are not listening. They're not learning. Heyokas [tricksters] were rare when we were free. Walking backwards, talking backwards - they're always talking about bad things, but it means the opposite. So the Heyoka is a teacher. And the further you get away from the Great Mystery's teachings, the more Heyokas are needed. In Pine Ridge back in the 1960s, there was only one Heyoka in the entire nation. This is because most of the old people who kept our culture alive were still living. But as they died off, more Heyokas materialized. Now practically every Holy Man is a Heyoka. This means the people aren't listening to the teaching. The whole nation is becoming Heyoka. With so many people addicted to alcohol or to one drug or another, and sending their kids to school where they learn the anti-knowledge of patriarchal society, the whole nation is unwittingly turning Heyoka - they don't even realize it. Only a few great ones know that they are Heyoka these days. The others are Heyoka, teaching backwards, without even knowing it. This has become the tragic norm . . . 

"The white man is always confused by the concept of Iktomi, who is often represented by the Spider. American Indian people don't believe in the Devil. We don't believe in evil. We had no experience of it until we met a patriarch [Euro-American society]. A basic premise among indigenous people is that there isn't anything that is perfect. So you build this idea into the society, and therefore you have Iktomi, the Trickster, who is a sort of Heyoka. Iktomi is a teacher, he will teach you about the tricks of life, the foibles of life, about temptation, about egos. There is nothing evil about him. Iktomi, by the way, is a male. So Iktomi, as part of the natural world, is not evil, in fact he can be downright funny. But you've got to LOOK OUT. That's the lesson of Iktomi."

Russell Means
Oglala Lakota

"If You've Forgotten the Names of the Clouds, You've Lost Your Way," co-authored with Bayard Johnson (2013)

Photos:  Badlands National Park, SD, May 16, 2015